GRINDROD the shipping and logistics business, has announced that its subsidiary Unilog (Pty) Limited, has been renamed Grindrod Marine Services. Unilog has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Grindrod Limited since its inception in 1983.

Grindrod celebrates 100 years of commercial activity this year and with that, unprecedented success and growth over this period. It has grown from a coastal shipping enterprise to a complete logistics powerhouse, with global reach and representation in 24 other countries.

Business units, such as Unilog provide integral services to group companies and outside organisations.

For the past 18 years, Unilog has been, and continues to be, responsible for the logistical support (marine equipment, stores, spares and provisions) of the diverse Unicorn Shipping fleet and various other vessels operating worldwide - from the United States to South America, Europe, the Middle East, Far East, Australia and Africa. This service also includes the local and international support of new-building vessels and the support of operational vessels during dry-docking and refits.

Grindrod in 2004 announced its plans to expand the land based operations which led to numerous acquisitions.

This overall strategy to diversify the group from shipping to a broader-based freight and logistics business stood the group in good stead over the past year. Grindrod, over the last few years, then embarked on a programme of consolidation to both streamline activities and benefit from synergies, amongst group companies and divisions. As part of this program, it was decided that Unilog would fall under the umbrella of Grindrod Ships Agencies (Pty) Limited, a subsidiary of Grindrod Limited.

Further to this, the Grindrod board of directors made the decision to rebrand or co-brand all 100% owned subsidiaries within the group in order to align group companies under a common Grindrod identity.

The operations and management of Unilog remains unchanged and the company remains involved in the same business of providing specialised marine services and products to the marine industry.

Management’s expectation is that the name change to Grindrod Marine Services will be seamless. It will continue to do ‘business as usual’, albeit now under a different name and organisational structure.